Ten Best: Month of December
What a first month of the season we have had here in the Cincinnati area. The atmosphere for the games have been raucous but responsible, and the games themselves worth the price of admission. Well, for the most part the games were the price of admission. So, with all the action that I was able to take in I thought I would give you a best of the best for the first month of action. Here is the Ten Best for the first month of the season.
- Best Performance in a Loss: This category was a tough for a few reasons. First, its hard as a player to say you played well in a loss. It’s a team game and when the team does not do well, the player usually feels the same way. Second, there was more than one performance that could have been considered the best in this category. But I am going with Giovanni Santiago (2018 PHO #33) and his performance in Hughes season opener against rival Woodward. Santiago finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists for the game and showed why he is considered one of the best in the state. And the most impressive stat from that night was that he went 16-16 from the free throw line.
- Best Supporting Performance in a Victory: And once again we go back to the season-opening match-up between Hughes and Woodward for this category as well. Overlooked in all the hoopla of this game was the 21 points, 5 rebound and assist game of Bulldogs senior point man Demontez “Kane” Cooper. Kane (2018 PHO #179) was an absolute killer all night, regularly causing havoc in the lane while knocking down mid-range jumpers with regularly. D-III and NAIA programs would be wise to give this floor general a look.
- Best Performance in a Victory: Two things I would like to say. First off, the performance of Purcell Marian F Bryan Warah (c/o 2019) against Shroder was very much considered. On December 30th Warah went off for a 30 piece (31pts, 14reb) and that performance should be mentioned. Second, no the Hughes-Woodward was not the only game I saw this month, just happened to be the best. So, when you go off for 33 points and 15 rebounds like Woodward’s Terry Durham (2018 PHO #88) against your conference rival opening night, you get the nod.
- Best performance by an underclassman: While Deer Park’s 2020 backcourt tandem of Mark Wise and Steve Gentry Jr. deserve mention, we head to North College Hill for this category. Rising sophomore DeAirius Barker put in a very efficient, solid performance against conference rival Summit Country Day. Barker finished with 14 points on 3-6 from the field and was a perfect 6-6 from the line. He showed a nice ability to create off the dribble and played with great poise as well. Expect to hear more from this young player in the future.
- Best performance by a junior: We mentioned this young man’s name earlier in the article and this was easily the top performance I witnessed by a junior. 2019 Purcell F Bryan Warah went off for a 31-point, 14 rebound performance against D-III rival Shroder. He showed an ability to finish in traffic and played with a relentless motor the whole game. Bryan also finished with 2 blocks and was an impressive 13-14 from the line.
- Best performance by a senior: We mentioned this performance earlier, but it bares mentioning again. Terry Durham was an absolute animal in Woodward’s win over Hughes. Durham simply would not be denied in his 33-point, 15 rebound performance. Rather if it was single-coverage, a double or triple team Durham found a way to get the basket.
- Best individual defensive performance: Let’s give some love to the guy who got in his stance and made a difference on the defensive end. And that guy is Summit Country Day junior guard Rylan Woods. His second half defensive performance in their win over North College Hill must be noted. NCH senior Lorenzo Sparks (PHO #161) was cooking early with 16 in the 1st But Woods was a key factor in holding Sparks to only 4 points in the 2nd half. Rylan competed hard and made Sparks take some tough shots. While his teammates helped, Woods was a big reason for Sparks sluggish 2nd half.
- Best defensive performance by a team: From start to finish the Deer Park Wildcats put on a stellar defensive performance in there win over Reading. The Blue Devil ball-handlers never looked comfortable against the Wildcat press, which resulted in 19 Reading turnovers. Deer Park also did a good job contesting shots and forcing the Wildcats into rushed shots as well. And that plays right into the Wildcats hands.
- Best overall team performance: While many team performances were high-quality, the Princeton Vikings performance against Wilmington must be noted. Yes, Wilmington was short-handed without Ashland commit Dylan Beaugard, but even he would not have mattered. From start to finish the Vikings absolutely dominated the Hurricanes on both ends. The size and athleticism of the Vikings made for tough and rushed looks at the rim which lead to many transition buckets. Three of those transition opportunities turned into three Darweshi Hunter (PHO #74)
- Best game atmosphere: Playing your conference rival in the season opener at home is a heck of way to start the season. Add in the fact that these two programs have not gotten along on the court for decades; with fanbases who talk trash to each other with every chance they get. This is what you got at the Hughes at Woodward match-up on December 1st. The atmosphere was electric, and the crowd only added to the electricity, not take-away like some crowds can do. It was an all-around good night of basketball for the CMAC.